Uber drivers are more likely to cancel on men with 'black-sounding' names, study finds

Discrimination against African Americans is a common occurrence
among ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft, according to a
new study on driver behavior.

This
study, which was published Monday by researchers at MIT,
Stanford, and the University of Washington, recorded data from
1,500 rides in Boston and Seattle.

The study used eight research assistants to help them conduct the
study: two African American women, two African American men,
two white women, and two white men.

The data showed that not only do African American passengers
experience longer wait times, they're subject to higher
cancellation rates from drivers.

In Seattle, the riders completed 581 trips that showed there was
a 35% increase in wait times for African American riders.

In Boston, the eight riders took 460 trips with Lyft and 451
trips with Uber. For men, the cancellation rate was nearly twice
as high for those with "black-sounding" names — 11.2% versus 4.5%
for "white-sounding" names. For women, it was 8.4% and 5.4%,
respectively.

Overall, the study concluded "that UberX drivers are nearly three
times as likely to cancel a ride on a male passenger upon seeing
that he has a 'black-sounding' name."

"Using the most direct measure (observed cancellations in Boston)
there appears to be evidence that African American passengers
receive worse service, compared to white riders, in TNC or
ride-hailing based services such as Uber and Lyft," the authors
wrote. "This discrimination is not the result of any policy by
ride hailing providers, but rather the behavior of individual TNC
drivers."

When it comes to Lyft, the study notes one key difference between
it and Uber: Uber drivers only see the passenger's name
after they accept the ride, whereas Lyft drivers can see
the passenger's name and photo before accepting the ride. This
might explain why Uber has higher cancellation rates compared to
Lyft; those drivers might be just as biased, but due to how their
system operates, there's just no way to know as easily.

And so, while there may be drivers who choose not accept rides at
all based on a passenger's race, it's not as clear from the data:
In Boston, all the men faced about the same cancellation rate on
Lyft, while women faced a lower cancellation rate when using
African American-sounding names. But in Seattle, there wasn't a
major difference in Lyft wait times between African American and
white passengers.

The study noted that the findings might not be such a new
occurrence: Discrimination has long been rampant among
traditional taxi cab drivers as well.

"In our Seattle experiment we found that discrimination within
traditional taxi-cab also exists," the authors write. "The first
taxi stopped nearly 60% of the time for white RAs, but less than
20% of the time for African American RAs. Furthermore, white RAs
never had more than four taxis pass them before one stopped, but
the African American RAs watched six or seven taxis pass them by
in 20% of cases. These differences are statistically
significant."

We reached out to both Uber and Lyft about this study. Rachel
Holt, Uber's head of North American operations, said the findings
of the study will be helpful for Uber in thinking about how to
further tackle discimination.

"Ridesharing apps are changing a transportation status quo that
has been unequal for generations, making it easier and more
affordable for people to get around — no matter who they are or
where they live," Holt said in an emailed statement.
"Discrimination has no place in society, and no place on Uber. We
believe Uber is helping reduce transportation inequities across
the board, but studies like this one are helpful in thinking
about how we can do even more."

Lyft also emphasized that it doesn't tolerate discrimination
on its platform.

"We are extremely proud of the positive impact Lyft has on
communities of color," Adrian Durbin, Lyft's head of policy
communications, wrote in an emailed statement. "Because of Lyft,
people living in underserved areas — which taxis have
historically neglected — are now able to access convenient,
affordable rides. And we provide this service while maintaining
an inclusive and welcoming community, and do not tolerate any
form of discrimination."